[Cap]

Excerpt from Mitt Slingers Magazine the October 1897 issue....At a request from US promoters the IBU considers the position of world champion Jack Johnson's next title defence and decrees that because his first had been against then No.2 ranked Gus Ruhlin, Johnson would be permitted to select an opponent from amongst the current top ten....Only two men, aside from Ruhlin, are available if the fight is to be made before winter; Jim Jeffries and the young Oxnard slugger Sam McVea....As Jeffries' manager demands a guarantee of $10,000 and 50% of the fighters share of the gate receipts, Johnson's agents approach McVea and his backers with an offer of 40% of the proposed gate receipts and a 70/30 split of the purse with 70% to the winner....McVea jumps at the proposal with a caveat that both men put up $2500 as forfeit should one man back out....South Afrika's Corrie Sanders vacates the national championship with the sudden announcement of his retirement from the ring....The South Afrikan Boxing Union declares former champion Bakari Olokun the top contender for the Old Buck Belt and opens bids for promoters to arrange a championship match between Olokun and the next best heavyweight in the country....Jimmy Bivins is on a tour of Central and South America where the sport is starting to catch on in a big way thanks to the combined efforts of Texas promoter Sam Chaffey and Mexico City's Humberto Sanchez....